Denerim High
by Lady of the Waters
Summary: What would life be like for the Dragon Age characters if they were in high school? You're about to find out.
1. The first day

**Chapter 1: The first day**

"Elissa, wake up! Breakfast is ready!"

With a long groan, Eilssa slowly and wearily opened her eyes. "Ugh... w-wha...?"

"Rise and shine pup!" exclaimed Bryce Cousland, bursting open the door to Elissa's room "It's a brand new day, much to do! Today is your first day at your new school! There is so much to prepare for, I expect you to help pack! Go on, go get your breakfast and get to it young woman!" Bryce trotted over to Elissa's curtains and separated them completely, letting a harsh bright light in, he then proceeded to open the window up, bringing in a horribly cold breeze "AAH!" yelled Elissa in frustration "Dad, did you REALLY have to do that?!" she cried out "Of course dear, now get up and get ready before I drag you out myself!" Bryce said, before finally walking out of the room.

Elissa lay in bed for a few minutes curled up in the fetal position underneath her blanket to protect herself from the cold wind and bright light. After a while she realised it was no use however, she was still cold as hell and her position under the blanket made absolutely no difference to how she felt. She reluctantly rolled herself out of bed where she fell with a big "PALUNK!" onto the floor. "Ouch..." cried Elissa softly.

* * *

"Are you alright, my dear? You're looking rather glum..." said Eleanor. Elissa remained silent. Not only was she still frustrated from having recently moved from Highever over to Denerim and losing all her friends in the process, but she also had to start at a brand new school where she had no friends to speak of! "This is complete and utter rubbish!" she thought to herself. Ever since she had moved to Denerim she had hardly spoken to anyone at all. Her only remaining friend was her faithful dog Koba. She continued munching on her breakfast in frustration while her parents gave her questioning looks. After she had finished eating she accidentally let out a small burp due to her pent-up anger and then gave a big long sigh.

"This is going to be a long day..."

* * *

She was at the front porch now with her mom and dad and her unfashionable school bag hanging on on her right shoulder. "Have a lovely first day, my dear!" said her mother, kissing Elissa on both cheeks before giving her top and skirt a quick brush of her hands to ensure she was clean – something Elissa had learnt to accept over the years no matter how annoying it got. "Make us proud, pup." said her father before patting her on the back. "Make sure you behave well alright? We'll see you on the other side.". "I'll be fine. Thanks mom, thanks dad." Elissa said before turning around and walking away. She was wrong though, she wasn't going to be fine, this was her first day at a school that was almost 3 times the size and population of her previous one! This was the beginning of a nightmare... By the maker, she had no idea how she was going to survive there! "I'm going to look like the biggest loser on the block..." she whispered to herself. She made her way down the street. "Denerim high, here I come." she said in a nervous sigh.


	2. Welcome to Denerim High!

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Denerim High!**

And there it was before her, a gigantic brick structure, three stories high, with some subtle hints of classical Calenhad-era architecture that had long since faded away. She had to admit she was disappointed, all she saw was a large, dilapidated old building, she could see that it had its glory days, but at this point it was well past its prime. But now was not the time to get caught up on appearances, she had to get to school fast, the last thing she wanted was to be late on her first day!

Talk about an awful beginning...

Much to Elissa's dismay, her worst fears had turned into reality... she WAS late. When she had finally managed to find her way to the auditorium she had opened the door only to hear someone on a microphone, the school principle no doubt, say "With that said I hope all of you have an excellent year here at Denerim High and manage to set the highest standards possible. Good day and good luck!", after which a loud siren pierced the hall and all the students stood up immediately and started rushing out of the hall as fast as they could. Elissa stood dumbfounded. How could this happen...? she thought. Her mouth was literally hanging agape but she soon picked up her pace and walked the other way. The important thing was that she wasn't late for her first actual class. "Stay calm Elissa, stay calm..." she kept saying inside her head. Now there was only one problem.. finding the actual classroom! She knew she had English as her first class and that it was on the first floor, but that was it.

"It's gotta be down the central hall somewhere... yes, I know it's there. Or – wait, was it down that hall to the left? I know I have the map somewhere... perhaps it was -" "OW!" yelled a female voice. Elissa dropped her bag in shock and all her books and belongings went tumbling out onto the ground. "Watch where you're going you little twat!" Elissa looked at the girl in shock, she was tall and had black hair which she had tied up in a ponytail, she wore a brown leather jacket with a black shirt underneath and tight jeans. "I.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bump in to you, I just -", "Whatever." said the girl, before giving Elissa a venomous glance and walking off. "Oh maker..." Elissa whispered to herself. She could already tell she was going to hate it here. She got on her knees to pick up all her belongings and stuff them into her bag. Crowds of people were walking by her now, she could hear almost everyone who passed her laugh at her, her cheeks had gone a bright red. She fumbled around with her books for a bit, accidentally dropping some of them again due to her sheer embarrassment, sheets of paper flew all over the place, but she continued picking everything up at a hurried pace. "Do you need some help with that?" someone from behind her said, she turned her head around. Behind her was a young, gentle looking girl with bright red hair that went down to her chin. "Oh, no – it's just fine. I, um... I just...", "Here." said the girl, she walked over and picked up the sheets of paper scattered about the place and handed them to Elissa, who nervously stuffed them into her bag. After everything had been taken care of they both stood up. "I, uh... thank you." said Elissa, the red-haired girl gave a short giggle before saying "It was no trouble, I was glad to help out. I've often been in situations like this myself, dropping my bag all over the place, so I can relate." they both smiled. Elissa realised the girl had an Orlesian accent, she must have travelled a long way to be here. "I was hoping to ask someone..." said the Orlesian girl curiously "If they knew where the English room was? You see, it's my first day here, so I don't know my way around, all I know is that it is on the first floor, and nothing other than that. You wouldn't happen to know, would you?" Elissa suddenly lit up in excitement "Hey! It's my first day here too! I'm supposed to be going to an English class as well, but I have no idea where it's supposed to be, apart from that it's on this floor. So I guess that means we're going to the same English class then?", "It must be!" said the girl cheerily "Perhaps we should have a look around together, we can probably find someone who knows where it is located."

she slowly began to walk down the hallway "Come on. Let's have a look.", Elissa began to follow her before coming to a halt, "Hey, I didn't catch your name..?" she said, the red-haired girl turned around "Oh! My apologies. My name is Leliana, I'm from Orlais in case you couldn't already tell." Elissa gave a quick up-down nod of her head "Oh cool! My name's Elissa, Elissa Cousland.", Leliana gave a gentle smile "Nice to meet you Elissa!", and turned around once again "Now let's try and find this English room, I just hope we don't both end up being late on our first day!" she said in a semi-amused tone. They made their way up the hall.

There where almost no students left in the halls now. This indicated to Elissa that they were indeed late for their class. Oh well, at least now she wasn't going to be the only student in the school who was late on their first day, she thought to herself. They had already examined several of the classrooms but had not yet found the one, each classroom had the name of it's subject stamped onto the door, so they just had to find the one that said "English.". "Oh, Elissa, maybe we can ask that person over there." Leliana said all of a sudden, pointing towards her right, Elissa followed her finger and saw a boy with short, dirty blonde hair and a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt rummaging through his locker. "Hmm..." Elissa said, looking at him curiously. Leliana approached the man, "Excuse me.", he turned around to face Leliana, "I was wondering if you happened to know the way to the English room? You see, this is me and my friend's first day here, and we don't really know our way around the place yet.", "Oh, uh, the English room?" said the man "Mhm." said Leliana, giving a small nod of her head " Um, well... All you have to do is go right down this hallway and turn left at the first hallway you see, then the English room should be the first door to your left." said the man, all while making overly-expressive gestures with his arms. "Thanks so much!" said Leliana, smiling, the man smiled back, and then he looked over to Elissa, the two held eye contact for a brief moment, Elissa smiled, as did he, before she said "Thank you." and gave a polite nod of her head, she then followed Leliana down the hall.

They had finally found the classroom, just where the man had said it was. "English – Ms. Wynne!" Leliana said, they both gave a sigh of relief. "Come on, let's go!" Leliana said cheerfully."Here goes nothing..." Elissa whispered to herself. They both opened the door and made their way into the classroom.


	3. Wynne's English class

**Chapter 3: English class**

Everyone in the classroom suddenly turned their heads towards the two girls. Elissa gave a faint blush, she felt as if a spotlight had just been put on her. Both of the girls turned to face the teacher, the first thing Elissa noticed about her was that she was quite an old woman, perhaps in her 60's, she had quite a few fine wrinkles lining her face and her grey hair was tied into a short ponytail, she wore a long black skirt and a grey/white cardigan, typical attire for a teacher, she was quite tall too, despite her age she seemed to be quite beautiful and had an air of grace and sophistication around her.

"Sorry we're late." Leliana spoke up, "This was our first day and we had trouble finding our way around.". The teacher looked at both girls with a curious expression and then calmly said "Please be seated." both girls nodded their heads and looked around the classroom for a place to sit. There were only about 4 or 5 spares tables in all, but luckily two of those tables happened to be standing next to each other, the two girls made there way over to the tables, Elissa almost tripped on someone's outstretched leg on the way there but luckily managed to regain her balance before she toppled over, there were still a few giggles and snickers around the classroom though. Finally she reached her destination and sat down next to Leliana. Elissa took note of the students surrounding her, to her immediate left sat an elf, he was tanned and had blonde hair reaching down to the bottom of his neck, directly in front of her was a meek looking man with long black hair who seemed to move around a lot in his seat as though nervous that some catastrophic event was going to take place at any second, she turned her head to look behind her to catch a brief glimpse of a buxom young woman with shoulder length red hair and a pretty face, before turning her head back in front of her. "What an interesting bunch of people..." Elissa thought to herself. To her right sat Leliana who was staring attentively at the teacher. Elissa felt the urge to make conversation with her but restrained herself as she figured the least she could do to make up for being late to class was pay attention to what the teacher said. Elissa forced herself into a state of concentration.

* * *

"Now, I'm going to separate you all into groups..." said Ms. Wynne "I want you all to discuss the pros and cons of Chantry rule of the Circle. I've already written down some points you might want to discuss on the board, but I expect each group to come up with at least 3 new ones and to write them down on paper. Okay, let's see now..." she began putting everybody in to groups of three or four."You two girls, the latecomers, what are your names?" the teacher said, "My name is Leliana, Miss." spoke the Orlesian girl, the teacher nodded, "And you, my dear?", she said, turning her head towards Elissa "My name is Elissa Ms.... Ms. Wynne." she said, temporarily forgetting her name, the teacher nodded again. "Hmm... I'll have you two pair up with Jowan, Zevran and Bella.". Just then the girl who was sitting behind Elissa gave an loud sigh "Miss, do I really have to be paired up with Zevran again? We were in the same class last year and he kept trying to flirt with me, wouldn't leave me alone for one moment, he's a total sleaze ball! Please miss!" Ms. Wynne gave a short laugh "Zevran, do try to be more easy on the girls won't you?" she said, "Oh, you must be joking?" said the elf, who Elissa now identified as Antivan,"Surely no man can be expected to behave rationally in the presence of such..." he turned his head towards Elissa and Leliana, "_Beauties._" he finished off, giving a quick wink of his right eye. Elissa couldn't help but let out a blush before turning her head away. Bella scoffed. "Now, now, I don't want any funny business going on, okay? I am sure these smart young women would much rather focus on the task at hand than be distracted by you." Zevran gave a playful sigh "Alas... you break my heart my dear Wynne." he said, pounding his right hand against his chest in a melodramatic manner. "Well, if I am not allowed to express my affection for these fine women then I suppose you and I should converse with each other instead. What say you, my dear?" he said, a cheeky grin upon his face, Wynne gave Zevran a look of disapproval and then began wagging her finger at him "Don't you get fresh with me, young man! I'll put you into another class if I need to! And don't think you can charm your way out of it!" Zevran gave a hearty, satisfied laugh and leaned back onto the legs of his chair, resting his elbow on Bella's desk. "Ugh... miss? Can I please go to the bathroom?" said Bella, in an extremely agitated tone, "Of course dear." said Wynne, her expression a mix of sympathy and bemusement.

The remainder of the class was spent with Zevran telling dirty jokes to Elissa and Leliana (all of which Elissa thought were painfully unfunny but forced herself to giggle at anyway, she didn't want others to think of her as a boring person on her first day) while both girls attempted to concentrate on the task and discuss pros and cons. Elissa asked him a few times if he could concentrate and contribute to the task but he seemed to ignore her each time she asked, so she just gave up. The black haired boy, Jowan, who she now saw to be wearing glasses and high pulled-up trousers, spent almost the entire time keeping to himself, writing down notes on a piece of paper, the only time when he did speak is when Elissa asked him for his opinion on the matter, shortly after which he turned into a stuttering mess, the only coherent thing that sprouted from his mouth being when he finally said "...And yeah, that's what I've written down here." to which Elissa gave a slow, bewildered nod and said "Oh... cool." before returning to her work. Unsurprisingly, Bella never did return from the bathroom.

* * *

The bell rang. People began rushing out.

"Okay everybody, I want each groups points to be told to the rest of the class at the start of the next English lesson. Try and think up some more in the mean time." said Wynne. All the other students expect Elissa and Leliana were out the door now, Elissa was just about to head out herself, but then Leliana said "Wait! We need to talk to Ms. Wynne." Elissa turned around to look at the girl. Leliana approached Ms. Wynne, who was seated at her desk, and started talking "Ah, hello miss... Once again, I just wanted to apologise for our lateness. We had awful trouble finding our way around. Luckily there was one boy who was kind enough to point us to the English room."; Ms. Wynne gave a soft, gentle laugh "Oh, it's quite alright dear. I know how it is for students on the first day at a new school. I had the exact same problems when I was your age. Except it wasn't just on my first day of school." she said, laughing, "I turned up late to classes all the time, I was always unorganised and I rarely finished my homework on time.", she gave a satisfied sigh "...And yet look where I am now." she concluded, a smile drawn upon her face. "As long as you put effort in and are enthusiastic about your subjects you should both do fine." said Ms. Wynne. Leliana smiled and gave a polite nod, "Thank you." she said, "Of course." responded Ms. Wynne "Good luck to both of you. I hope you enjoy your first year at Denerim High.".

With everything said and done, Leliana began walking away. Elissa felt obliged to say something to the teacher as a way of thanks, but she had no idea what, all she knew is that she wanted to sound intelligent. Finally she managed to force something out of her mouth "Thank you... Ms. Wynne." she said awkwardly. So much for intelligence. The woman turned her head towards Elissa "Please, just call me Wynne." she said, smiling graciously. "...Wynne." Elissa corrected. The two held brief eye contact. Something in Wynne's eyes told her that she understood who she was, she felt a sense of comfort, it was almost as if she could see into her soul. That's the moment when she knew she was going to get along with this teacher just fine. Elissa gave a friendly nod of her head and walked out the door with Leliana.


	4. The guide

**Chapter 4: The guide**

The students were flooding the hallways now. "There really are a lot of people here, it's almost overwhelming." Elissa thought to herself. For the moment her and Leliana were just following the crowd, they had no idea where they were headed.

Eventually they arrived at what appeared to be a huge courtyard, a big wide open space where all the students began to spread out and go in numerous different directions. Elissa and Leliana stopped dead in their tracks.

"Umm... what do we do now?" said Elissa in confusion.

"Hmm..." hummed Leliana, placing an index finger on her lower lip, "There must be some place to eat around here, I'm starving! Perhaps we should have a look around? Maybe ask someone for directions?" she suggested

"Sounds good to me." said Elissa.

Leliana approached a passing female student and asked her for directions, the girl complied, pointing her in the right direction. Leliana thanked her and returned to Elissa.

"I know the way now, come, follow me." said Leliana, as she began walking away.

Elissa wanted to follow her, but for some reason felt the urge to stay in the courtyard, so she spoke out, saying "Actually Leliana, I think I'll just stay here for a bit. I'm just not that hungry right now. I'll catch up to you in a little while OK? Don't worry, I'll find my way there."; Leliana turned around, with a look of slight disappointment on her face "Oh... alright. I'll see you there soon then." she said, waving goodbye before turning around and walking away.

Elissa turned around and headed towards a wooden bench stationed about a meter away from the door she had passed through just moments ago. She sat herself down on the hard, splintery surface. She realised now that the main reason she wanted to stay behind was so that she could observe the people here, this was all so new to her after all, she felt if she just spent some time sitting down and looking around she might "ease in to the system" so to speak.

...Bad idea. It didn't take very long until all the students passed through the doorway and, instead of hanging around in the courtyard like she had expected, walked directly inside the buildings to her left or right.

Elissa sighed, "So much for that plan of action...". The only thing that had been gained from all this were the splinters in her ass. "Ow..." said Elissa, as she shuffled about on the bench. She vowed NEVER to sit here again. She gave a quick scan of the courtyard to ensure there weren't any more students left. She could vaguely make out the figures of people in the distance directly ahead of her, they appeared to be running about and jumping up and down... playing some sort of sport perhaps? There must be a sporting ground over there. No other students in sight... _wait_. Now that Elissa looked to the far right side of courtyard, there appeared to be a person there, a female figure, leaning against a wall. She couldn't make out much else about her other than that she was dressed in dark colours. Another person seeking to understand this perplexing school, perhaps? Or just a lone wolf? It didn't matter, it was time for her to go. She stood up and gave her back side a quick brush. She needed to find where Leliana had got to.

Elissa advanced a few steps forward before noticing something in the corner of her eye. The female figure she had seen just before was now moving towards her. "Who could this be...?" Elissa thought to herself. As the girl advanced closer to her she began to see her more clearly, she appeared to be dressed in a gothic fashion, her outfit a complex mix of leather and lace on the bottom with a black T-shirt on the top which had some sort of symbol on it that she couldn't make out. She walked closer still, there could be no doubt now that the girl had her eyes set on Elissa. She saw presently that the girl had dark purple eye-shadow and was wearing make-up that made her face appear a rather pale complexion. In a matter of moments she was only a few steps away from Elissa. She could see every little detail on the girl now. She was definitely a goth, no mistaking that. She had dark brown hair which was tied up into a sort of messy bun and wore dark coloured lipstick. Her lower lip was pierced by a small metal ring and the symbol which was on her T-shirt appeared to be a leafless tree... curious. "No doubt the official sign of her favourite rock band." Elissa thought. She had several bracelets around her wrists, they were an interesting collection in that they appeared to be a mix of tribal bracelets, golden and silver bracelets (some even encrusted with gems) and tattered leather strings adorned with small beads of many varying colours. The lady obviously had a fondness for jewellery. She had more than one belt strapped around her pants (which as she suspected was an intricate mix of leather and lace) and a pair of dark coloured feathers which were somehow attached to the side of her pants, probably via string. She also wore a pendant necklace around her neck. What caught Elissa's attention the most however, was the remarkable colour of her eyes, they were a medium-dark yellow colour, one could say almost golden. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, it was almost... _hypnotising_.

"I assume you are new here, yes?"

"Oh! I, uh... y-yes-I mean...I.."

The girl gave a swift laugh. "Mhm. You're new."

"I, uh... yeah." is all Elissa said in response. She really had no idea how to respond to a girl who just approached her out of nowhere and began talking to her. What was her intention? Was she going to make Elissa out for being a fool or loner? Or was she here to help?

The dark haired girl expressed a mild bemusement at Elissa's awkward manner. "There is no reason to be afraid of me, you know. I know how students are on their first day here. You are clearly quite lost. I could help you out, if you wished. You don't seem like a stuck up brat like half the others here."

Elissa stood silent for a moment, contemplating the young woman. Could she really be willing to help her? Finally after about half a minute of silence Elissa spoke up. "I...uh, thank you. Actually, I was just wondering how to get to the cafeteria. I promised to meet my friend there."

"Then I shall take you there." said the girl "But first, there a few important things that you must know about this school. Come, follow me." the girl began walking away towards the door which Elissa had passed through earlier.

"Oh! Uh, thanks for the offer. But I've really got to be getting to -"

"This is for your own benefit" said the girl, who did not stop walking "I can see you seek to understand this school, I will teach you the ins and outs. Whether you follow me or not is entirely up to you of course, but I'd imagine you'd have a far easier time fitting in with some.. prior knowledge."

It was true. Elissa did not want to stick out like a sore thumb among all the other students. She decided to follow the girl.

"W..wait!" said Elissa, running forward. The goth girl slowed down her pace. "Why are we heading this way? I've already been through here.". The girl gave short, blunt laugh. "Well, first thing's first. If your going to have any hope of getting around this school without becoming another poor lost soul then I will need to show you where the classrooms are located. However, if we come across any... figures of interest along the way then I shall be sure to inform you. Most students gather at the cafeteria or back alley at this time however, so it is unlikely we will run into anybody.".

And so they walked. The girl showed Elissa through all the classrooms in the building, from maths, science and biology to drawing, music and literature. The only one which she knew of already was the English room which Ms. Wynne occupied. The girl mentioned that she was taught by Wynne as well, but said that they didn't get along at all, calling her an "incessant nagger" and a "miserable old bat" among other things. The teacher she disliked the most however, was the maths teacher, who she called a "grouchy old bastard with a superiority complex" and who always had a "scrunched up facial expression, as if he had just caught scent of a huge pile of mabari dung.", he went by the name of Howe. This worried Elissa, as she knew that maths was her next subject, hopefully the teacher wouldn't be as unpleasant as the girl described.

They were just about to walk into the auditorium when three young men came busting out in a loud buzz. One of the men Elissa recognised to be Zevran, the flirty blonde elf from her English class. The other two were a stout dwarf with black cornrows tied back into a ponytail with a small tattoo marked on his face and a boy with short black hair and rough stubble.

"Ah" said Zevran "Well if it isn't two lovely ladies... two familiar faces in fact! Pleasure to see you."

"Oh, if it isn't the perverted elf and his two lackeys. Can't you idiots keep it in your pants for once?" said the dark haired girl.

The trio burst out laughing. "My, my... such a venomous tongue on such a pretty woman." said Zevran, walking a few steps closer to the girl. She hastily pushed him back. "That's close enough, elf!" she said "If you'll excuse us, we were on our way to the auditorium."

"Ah, playing tour guide to the new girl I see? Well, good luck to you" said Zevran "and to you, my dear." he said turning his head towards Elissa and blowing a kiss to her. He and his two companions then turned around and walked down the hallway.

"Ugh." said the goth girl once they were out of sight. "Be wary of those three." she said in a tone that suggested she had run into trouble with them before.

"I know one of them! Zevran, the elf, he's in my English class." Elissa said.

"Is that so?" said the girl. "I pity you.".She continued walking towards the auditorium, Elissa followed in her tracks.

"The man is infamous for being the biggest sleaze-ball in Denerim. It does not matter if one is a human, elf, dwarf, or anything in between, Zevran will screw anything with legs and pulse. And he is not selective to gender either. It's no wonder his previous girlfriend dumped him. He is the very definition of the term "man-whore". His two friends are no better. Leske, the dwarf with the long black hair, is the most vulgar of the three, always making lewd gestures when in the presence of a female and Taliesin, the human and Zevran's long time companion, is constantly on the prowl for women who he believes he can woo with his painfully idiotic pick-up lines. I had to endure one myself once, in a class no less, and I can say truthfully that at that moment I was very much tempted to drive my pencil into his skull." Elissa gave a quick gasp but then laughed. "Those three have earned a nickname around here. They are called the "Lady killers", and rightly so! For I cannot imagine any poor woman enduring through their revolting antics without being brought to end her own life shortly afterwards." she said mockingly.

Finally she pushed open the auditorium doors. Elissa was amazed at the size of the auditorium. She had arrived here before at the start of the day but she had barely even gotten a look at it before she was sent on her way to her first class. It was very spacious and the central platform was of a remarkable size. "Here we are" said the dark haired girl. "Wow" is all Elissa could say. Here we are indeed.

* * *

They were back outside at the courtyard now. Elissa and the girl had sat down at two of the auditorium seats for a short time and discussed how to easily navigate the school without becoming lost. The girl who Elissa spoke to also mentioned how to get to places like the basketball court, the sports oval, the back alley and the girls bathrooms (and thank the maker she found that one out!). Elissa decided to question the girl while they where walking through the courtyard.

"Hey, you see that bench over there?" asked Elissa, pointing her finger towards the chair which she had been sitting on prior to meeting girl. "Oh, yes... _that_ evil thing." she said in a darkly humoured voice, "That particular chair has earned a very well-know name among the students here, we call it "_the bloody prick_". Seeing as you were sitting down there moments ago I'm sure your imagination can... fill in the gaps." Elissa did not reply for a time "Uh... yeah." there was a disturbing silence between them. Ouch. That is something Elissa would rather _not_ picture in her mind. "Come, there is one last place of importance I must show you before we go to the Cafeteria.". She walked towards the large building on the right.

They had just arrived at the study centre. This was the first place Elissa had seen that was filled with quite a few students. "By the maker..." Elissa said in awe. Not only was the study centre (which would be more accurately described as a library) filled to the brim with students, but it was _huge_, extremely spacious (almost to the same extent as the auditorium), covered wall to wall in bookcases, and three stories high.

"H-How many books must they have here? I could spend an entire lifetime reading through these. This is like nothing I've ever-"

"Hey bookworm. Eyes down here.". Elissa's attention was suddenly drawn back towards her unofficial guide girl. "I'm sorry, it's just that..." - "I know. A bit overwhelming for the new bloods. Nobody viewing this scrapheap of brick from the outside would ever expect something like this. Don't get your hopes up though, this library is the one redeeming feature in this entire cesspool of a school. Now come, there are two free tables over by there" she said, pointing to the bottom left hand corner of the room. "I'd prefer we not wander around, lest we draw too much unwanted attention.". And so the girls sat down.

The first people the guide girl seemed to notice were two dwarfs a few tables in front of them, arguing away with each other, one was stout in physique and dirty mannered, with fiery red hair all around his face, who she referred to disparagingly as "the school drunk" and the other a female with medium length brown hair tied into small pigtails with a ponytail at the back, who she claimed to be of a notoriously cruel and power-thirsty behaviour, but that didn't stop people revering her apparently. The former dwarfs name was Oghren and the latter Branka, the two had apparently been in a long lasting relationship and had a bitter break up just a few weeks ago, which came about as a result of Oghren's frequent drinking habits. "And yet still they chat each others heads off as if they were a _darling couple_. Ugh. Stay away from those two, any discussion with them will likely lead to some sort of argument, and one is never likely to be seen without the other.".

Elissa questioned the woman as to who the old lady running the library was, she had long grey hair and appeared to be wearing a golden robe, though it was a bit difficult to tell since she was sitting behind a desk at the front of the room. To this she remained silent, saying only after a short period of time "She's the library teacher. All you really must know is that she is a nutty old bat.".

A few moments later something caught the guide girl's eye, and she tapped Elissa on her left shoulder. "Look, over there, directly to my left, you see those two men?" Elissa looked towards the left and saw two men with blonde hair browsing through one of the book cases, she was temporarily stunned. One of the men was a _remarkably_ handsome fellow with long, thin blonde hair, and fair white skin, he truly was a sight to behold. It took Elissa a little while until she was able to make out who the other male was, once he turned around however she discovered, to her surprise, that it was the same boy who had pointed her and Leliana in the direction of the English room. Elissa had to admit that the boy was fairly handsome himself, perhaps even on par with his friend, but that his attractiveness was veiled behind, his, well... dorkiness. It was difficult to explain, but the boy had an air of awkwardness about him. Still, in a strange way she was drawn towards him. Upon closer examination she noticed that the two men looked quite similar to each other, though the short haired one was clearly the younger of the two.

"What's his name?" asked Elissa.

"Cailan. Cailan Theirin. He is what you could call "the popular boy" in Denerim high, watch out for him. I hate his guts to be honest, but all the other girls here seem to cream their panties whenever he walks by. Apparently he is "hot, fit and a major charmer" if what a group of squeaky-voiced girls in the cafeteria is anything to go by. Personally I can't see it. At all. But then again I tend to be about that about every prick of a guy in this school, except for perhaps a select few... but I have already said too much. In short, he is idolised by male and female alike in this school, boys want to be him, girls want to be with him. He is also the star sports student here in Denerim high, so I suppose that explains something of his popularity. The mere mention of his name is likely to cast envious and spiteful glances from the girls here. If you're smart, you'll try and _avoid_ hooking up with him. Believe me when I say you'll be slaughtered alive by the females here should you even attempt to make eye contact with him. Wait, I take that back, _slaughtered _is a major understatement.".

Elissa was bewildered, she wouldn't have expected this from such a man, how could he be so popular? "Wait. We _are_ thinking about the same man right?".

A puzzled expression appeared on the girls face "What do you mean?". Elissa replied, "The man with the short, dirty blond hair? That is Cailan? The popular one?".

At this the girl suddenly burst out into a fit of laughter, which lasted about 20 seconds and drew half the libraries attention to her, including the two men they had been discussing. So much for remaining discreet. Elissa felt her cheeks go red, they had clearly misunderstood each other. "Oh... oh my..." the guide girl said, and then, coughing twice, continued talking.

"That is _quite_ amusing. Thank you for the laughs. No, that man is certainly NOT Cailan" she said, letting out a few short laughs. "Forgive me, you see, the man with the long blonde hair, _that_ is Cailan. You must have been quite confused indeed, to have thought that fool brother of his to be the one which I was describing.".

Elissa was surprised "They're brothers?" she said, that would probably explain why they look so similar...

"Yes, indeed, the younger one goes by the name of Alistair.".

"Alistair, hey...?" Elissa thought. "What can you tell me about him?".

The girl raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "What? About _Alistair_? It is beyond me why anyone would want to know about that pathetic sod. I'll give you the quick version: He is the less popular Theirin brother, _far_ less popular. And he is, by far, the most irritating, bigoted, idiotic person in the school. End of.".

Elissa was a little shocked "I-I don't know... he seems kind of.." Morrigan let out an exasperated sigh "Dumb, naïve, cheesy? Agreed on all accounts. Now let us make a move on before the start of the next class, no doubt there will be several people of note in the cafeteria."

* * *

Finally they had arrived at the cafeteria. And _boy _was it packed. There were so many people walking about that she could barely see where she was going.

"Let's get a bite to eat first, then we'll locate your friend, yes? I would warn you that we do not have much time before the beginning of the next class. Soon enough however, you'll come to see that the things you picked up today will help you in the long run. It's a jungle out there. Not entirely dissimilar to the Korcari wilds. At least now you have a few tricks up your sleeve to help you survive... for three days at least." she said, finishing of her sentence with a smile that was a mix of friendly and wicked.

While they were waiting in the queue to receive food (all of which looked incredibly unhealthy) Elissa felt she needed to say something to the girl as a way of thanking her for her assistance. "Uh, hey, I haven't properly thanked you yet for all the.. uh, "ins and outs" you've taught me. If it wasn't for you I'm sure I'd be a bumbling mess trying to find my way through the corridors. Seriously, this place is like a maze! So.. thank you, and I mean it." Elissa smiled.

"You are... most welcome." the girl replied, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Um, by the way, my names Elissa, sorry I didn't tell you before. Come to think of it, I don't think I caught your name either?".

"Ah, my apologies then. Half the people around here would address me as "that freaky goth girl" or "witch b*tch", and you are welcome to do the same, if you wish" she laughed "But you may also feel free to address me as "Morrigan", my real name.".

"Ah, Morrigan it is then." Elissa smiled cheerfully. "Say, you should give my friend Leliana some pointers as well, she's new to the school to you see, and from Orlais. She's sitting down around here somewhere. We just have to find her.".

Morrigan replied "Why not relay the information to her yourself? You must understand I don't have the time nor the will to do this sort of thing on a regular basis. In fact, the only reason I helped you out was because you stood out like a sore thumb, no offence, and I figured I could help you stand on your own two feet.".

A feeling of disappointment suddenly rushed through Elissa, had she just been used? Did this girl, Morrigan, not really care for her but in fact wanted to just make sure that she didn't make a complete clown of herself?

"Oh.. I-I see..." she tried to prevent herself from seeming upset.

"However..." Morrigan spoke "There is also something.. different about you. And not in a bad way. You differ from everyone else here in that you don't seem judgemental or hung up on physical appearances. You have that naivety and sense of idiocy that comes with all new bloods but... there is something else in you too. You seem to be just about the only normal person in this entire pile of sh*t, I can tell you that much!" she laughed softly.

"Uh, thanks... I guess." Elissa said in confusion, she knew what Morrigan said was a compliment, just one that was veiled behind layers of snarky attitude.

In about another 2 minutes they had finally arrived at the counter. The serving lady was an incredibly stocky, heavily-built woman with a large bosom and crimson red hair which was tied up in a bun and protected by what looked to be... a see through shower cap? Oddly, she smelled faintly of rocks and pigeons.

Morrigan whispered in her ear "That's the cafeteria manager, her name is Shale, rumour has it she used to be made of stone, wouldn't surprise me considering how ruthless she can be sometimes. My one bit of advice: Do NOT, under ANY circumstances get on her bad side. And for goodness sake, never mention pigeons while in her vicinity! Never! She has ears like a fox." a feeling of dread suddenly filled Elissa, what was so bad about pigeons? She thought about questioning Morrigan but before she could she was already up by the counter.

"So what'll it be luv?" said the stalwart woman in what Elissa thought might have very well been the deepest and loudest voice she had ever heard, male and female alike.

"I'll have a chicken salad sandwich please, hold the pickles.".

The cafeteria lady raised an eyebrow, seeming to be slightly bothered "What's the magic word?".

Morrigan rolled her eyes and sighed, but did not say anything. Shale gave a hearty laugh "I'm just joking around. Here you go" she said, grabbing one of the sandwiches with her rough, calloused hands "No pickles. Just as you requested. Now get out of here!". Morrigan moved away from the counter, and off from the queue, but went just far away enough so that Elissa could still see her.

"Blasted swamp witch..." the cafeteria lady mumbled "kids these days... no manners... why I may as well... *mumble* *groan*".

"Ahem" coughed Elissa.

"Oh, sorry love! I didn't see you there. Say, you new to this school? Don't recognise you comin' round here before. Name's Shale." she said, holding out her hand. Elissa complied, shaking her hand. And _maker_ did she have a rough hand shake. She felt as if her arm was going to fall off afterwards.

"P-Pleased to meet you.. Shale.".

Shale's mouth opened up into an "O" shape in surprise and her eyebrows flew up to the top of her forehead. "By the flamin' stone! What have we here? A _polite_ young woman? Fancy that! Well, I'll tell ya what luv, you're gonna fit right in here, so long as you follow the rules of the cafeteria. NO smokin'. NO drinkin' o' the alcohols. NO lettin' the bleedin' birds in through the doors OR windows. And, most importantly, NO flippin' me off. You say one wrong word to me and I'll crush ya BLOODY SKULL in two! Now, follow these basic rules, and you'll be right as rain!" Shale finished off, a huge, overly-happy smile drawn upon her face. "Now, what'll it be dear?".

Elissa stood still for a few moments. She had just been scared stiff by Shale. This was obviously NOT a woman to be tampered with, she was sure she would be more than capable of splitting a persons skull in two, and she wasn't about to try and "flip" her off any time soon.

Elissa began browsing through the options. "Umm..." she said. Everything looked incredibly unappealing. "Is that green muck? Oh dear... What's that unusual looking thing, and why is it deep fried? You know what, I don't wanna know... Are those cookies, or seriously malformed cupcakes? Is that what I think it is sprinkled all over those nugs? Oh, _gross_." Elissa seriously could not decide. She was considering skipping eating all together, though she knew she had to sustain herself somehow.

"Hurry up already! We haven't got all day, darling!".

"Sorry! I'll just be a second...Uhh..." Elissa was in panic mode now. "What to get? What to get? What to get?". Shale gave a big, heaving sigh, and at the same time, involuntarily let out a putrid smelling fart.

"Oh crap!" thought Elissa. Evacuation time! "I'll have what Morrigan had!" she yelled quickly.

"Uhh... righteo then." Shale said awkwardly. Coughing, and then grabbing the sandwich with her huge hand and haphazardly stuffing it into a paper bag. "There you go dear. Good to see a new face 'round here.". Elissa smiled. Shale then reached out with her left hand and then pinched Elissa's cheek. "Ouch!" exclaimed Elissa. "Aren't you a dear little thing, eh? You'll fit right in here, I'm sure. Well, see around soon then." she let go of her cheek and gave it a quick pat. Elissa gave a courteous nod and then fled. The smell of Shale's fart was quickly sinking in. She had to admit she felt sorry for those in the queue. Aside from that though, the cafeteria lady certainly seemed nice... in a rough and tumble sort of way. Though she was still curious about the bird thing.

"I see you two got introduced to each other." said Morrigan, seemingly amused.

"Yeah, we did... she's a nice lady. But...".

Morrigan giggled "A bit rough around the edges? I know what you mean.".

"Yeah, she also farted. That is SO not hygienic." Elissa said, a look of despair on her face.

"Gee, you think?" Morrigan said. "I could smell that ladies stench from a mile away. She constantly reeks of sweat and stone. Ugh. Such are the dwarfs I suppose. Now come, let us find this Orlesian friend you claim to have.". The two went on their way, wading through the crowds.

"See any one of interest?" Elissa inquired.

"A few people yes, a few... _very specific people_. But now is not the time.".

Elissa scanned the room. Where could she have gone off to? All of a sudden, a shout.

"Elissa! Over here!".

Elissa followed the direction the noise came from and saw her red-haired compatriot clear as day near the bottom left side of the room. "Ah, there she is. Come! I'll introduce you to one another."

"Leliana, this is Morrigan. Morrigan, Leliana.". Leliana stood up from her chair,

"Ah! Pleased to meet you!" she said, extending her hand in greeting. Morrigan did not shake hands with her, saying only "Yes... 'tis a pleasure." and forcing a slight smile. There was an awkward pause before all three sat down.

"So, Morrigan's just been showing me around the school. Sorry for the long absence, but I learnt a LOT of useful things. I'll tell you some more of them later. Perhaps during the next break?". Leliana smiled in delight "Ooh, sure! Can't wait to find out.". Elissa smiled back and began eating into her meal.

Leliana, having already finished eating quite a while ago, decided to ask a question to their new friend. "So, Morrigan. It would seem you are dressed in a very... particular fashion. I quite like your jewellery. Your hair is very nice too. My question is, why do you dress like you do? Over in Val Royeaux we used to see some people dressed similar to you. I've always wondered what the intrigue was behind this "Gothic" subculture. It seems so dark... but at the same time, very intriguing.".

Morrigan continued chewing on her sandwich until she had swallowed everything that was in her mouth, whipped her mouth with a handkerchief, and then, with a look of slight irritation on her face, spoke. "What is it you say? Why do I dress as I do? I cannot imagine what the purpose of such a question would be, but very well, I shall comply. The reason I dress as a "goth" as you say is because I feel it differentiates me somewhat from the usual tripe that hang about this school. All the girls are either wearing skirts which stop approximately one inch beneath their nether-regions or a boring combination of jeans and and jackets, or, worst of all, the horrid abomination which is sweaters and knee-high socks which so many of the twats in the study centre seem to take fancy to. Each article of clothing, each accessory, also has it's own significance. But I shall not elaborate on that lest you all be bored to tears. It gives me more definition as a person in a school which seems to be full of mindless drones and robots which follow the same customs and fads day in and day out. That is all you really need to know about my appearance." she concluded, and went back to eating her sandwich.

"Wow" Leliana said "Fascinating".

Elissa had just eaten the last part of her sandwich (which was very average-tasting) when the bell rang, echoing across the cafeteria. "Jeez. That bell is WAY to loud." Elissa said in frustration.

Leliana stretched out her arms and let out a long yawn. "Well... guess it's time to get to our next class. What do you have next, ladies?".

Elissa tried searching her memory. Her parents had told her what subjects she had the day before... what was the second one again?

"Art next for me." said Morrigan. "And thank goodness for that, I don't think I could be bothered with any other topic at the moment. _Especially_ not mathematics.".

"Hey, now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure I have maths next. That's right. Isn't it with that Howe guy you mentioned?".

Morrigan laughed cynically. "Oh my. Good luck surviving _that_. That man has a major stick up his bum. In fact, almost every student agrees unanimously that Howe is a strict teacher. Strict, terrible and a grouch. Hell, even the teachers agree. He'll get on your nerves quick."

Elissa was not looking forward to it. "What about you Leliana?".

"Oh, I have history, I believe. Should be fun."

"Oh, Eamon, I presume? What a snore-fest he is. An ugly old bastard if I've ever seen one. That brother of his on the other hand... hmm..."

"We'll, I guess we'd best get going. It's been lovely meeting both of you. I hope - "

"Ssshhh!" hissed Morrigan, out of nowhere.

"What?"

"Oh no. It's _them_. Heads down, quick!"

"Morrigan? Are you all right? What on earth are you -"

"I said heads down!" Morrigan whispered loudly, swiftly hitting both Leliana and Elissa on the top of their heads. The two instantly lowered their heads down to her level.

"Oww... what was that for?" said Elissa.

"Quiet! Do you see those three girls to your diagonal right? Three O' Clock!"

Elissa turned her head to see who Morrigan was making a huge fuss about. There were three girls making their way down through the cafeteria towards the exit. A whole lot of people appeared to be drawn towards them. The one at the front was a young looking woman with a fair complexion, cherry lipstick and a rose coloured blush. She had light blonde hair tied back in an elegant and sophisticated bun, she was wearing a fashionable aqua blue shirt which revealed her shoulders, black high heels and a designer denim skirt which showed off some skin. To her right was a woman with jet black hair tied back into a ponytail and a with a thin but strong jaw. She was dressed in a black tank top (with no bra obviously, since her breasts were bouncing all over the place) and skin tight jeans. On the left stood a very fragile looking girl with dirty blonde, slightly curly hair tied up into a bun. She had a very "I'm so much better than you" expression on her face, she wore a floral patterned light pink, knee-length skirt and an expensive looking black cotton shirt with a peach/crimson coloured scarf draping off her shoulders.

"Who are they?" Elissa said, somewhat entranced by their appearance.

"The Queen Bees" Morrigan said, her voice oozing with contempt. "If there was anyone in this entire school I hated more than that fool Alistair and even Howe, it would definitely be these three."

"Why? What's so bad about them?" Leliana asked.

"Ugh, where do I start? The one at the front, Anora, is the leader, and probably one of the most well known people in the school along with Cailan. She is best described as "Little miss popular". She is a spoiled brat who gets anything she wants because her dear daddy is loaded with cash. She has her sights set on Cailan and will do anything and everything to win his affection. Quite pathetic really. She may look like your typical pampered dumb blonde princess, but don't be fooled, this b*tch is cunning, ruthless and manipulative when she needs to be. Kinda like me actually, except I don't try and _hide_ who I am. Not that she does a good job at hiding her bad side."

"I'll take note. Who are the other two?" said Elissa.

"Ah yes, Anora's personal army. The one on the left is Cauthrien, Anora's best friend and almost as twisted as Anora. She's got a rough edge to her, you get on her bad side and she'll have half a mind to slap you senseless. She can be smart when she wants to be I guess, but it doesn't really matter since she follows Anora's every command. The one on the right blowing kisses to every second guy she passes? Isolde. Fun, flirty and b*tchy, but dumb as a dog. Wait... I take that back, saying that would be a disservice to dogs everywhere. She's also highly loyal to Anora. These are the main three, but more often than not they have a whole troupe of fan girls following them around. It's sickening. Stay the hell away from them, they'll make your lives miserable. One of their favourite pastimes is destroying new arrivals like you until whatever self-esteem you did possess is completely flushed down the drain. Or if you want you could slap some sense into them, or better yet, pull a prank on them, it would make my day. Seriously. I'd do it myself but I already went over the detention limit last year."

Elissa felt intimidated. The "Queen Bees" huh? No doubt there would be a point where they would come across each other again, though she was hoping it wouldn't happen any time soon.

"I've gotta go! I'll see you later guys!" said Leliana.

"Me too, maybe we'll meet again. Until then, good luck out there." said Morrigan.

"I'll see you later, guys!" yelled Elissa. She let out a long sigh.

"Uh-oh. Newbie alert." Isolde said as she passed by. All three girls cackled themselves stupid.

"Really? "Newbie alert"? Lame..." said Elissa under her breath.

She had survived this far. It was time to get going. Next stop, mathematics class!

"Let's see if this "Mr. Howe" is everything everyone says he is." Elissa thought. "How bad can one teacher be?"


	5. The grouchy teacher

**Chapter 5: The grouchy teacher**

Well, it turns out that one teacher can be very, _very_ bad.

Mr. Rendon Howe was a nightmare in every sense of the word. Insensitive, snobby, rude, and Morrigan wasn't kidding when she said he had a scrunched up facial features. _Hoo boy_.

If a student was caught talking or looking anywhere other than at the board, their books or at Howe, then he would explode. It wasn't a pretty sight.

She had a few run-ins with him during the lesson, the first was when she asked to go to the bathroom.

"Now, can anyone tell me what the sum of -"

"Excuse me Mr. Howe?"

"Silence girl! Do not speak unless spoken to, and, more importantly, do _not_ interrupt me while I am talking."

"Sorry..." Elissa said, in a semi whisper. She didn't dare say anything for the rest of the lesson for fear he would maul her alive, and thus she was forced to hold her bowels uncomfortably for the entire lesson.

The next time she got into trouble was about half an hour later into the class, when she was shifting about uncomfortably on her seat as a result of her need to relieve herself. She was bored, and she was sitting at the back of the room anyway, so she discreetly picked up her mobile phone from her bag and began browsing through it, being sure to rear her head up whenever Arl Howe turned to face the class. She decided to play a game, "Genlock hunter", she had played this before back at Highever, along with her friends, it was surprisingly popular for a game restricted to mobile phones. Her character had just reached level 7, and had the title of "genlock slayer".

"Now, if I were to round this off to the nearest number I would get...? Anyone...?"

"50.434 Ser Howe."

"Good, now, back to the main problem, if I were to then..."

Howe stopped dead in his tracks, having noticed something in the corner of his eye.

"What on earth... you! Girl at the back! Put that away right now!"

Elissa jumped from fright and her phone fell out of her hands and down to the ground. The class laughed.

"Mobile phone in class hey? I'll give you a one off since you're new. But if I catch you with that blasted contraption again I'll confiscate it and you'll be doing detention."

Elissa picked up her phone and hung her head in embarrassment. She was at least glad that he had _some _capability for mercy. She knew she shouldn't have gotten so focused on beating that band of genlock rogues, but she was just _so close_ to victory!

They say third times a charm, but that wasn't to be the case for poor Elissa, who got told off the third time that day for answering a question incorrectly. Howe had questioned her on decibels, how sound was measured, she vaguely remembered studying this in maths at Highever, so she gave it a shot, only to be _shot_ down. Ouch.

In the midst of all this despair, the grouchy mannered teacher, the impatient bowels, the questions she was struggling to understand, there was a shining beacon of hope. There were 3 people in this class who she happened to recognise, one was Jowan, from her English class, seemingly now transformed into a teachers pet (which, considering Howe, was really saying something), and almost always being the first to jump at the big questions, 80% of the time being correct. One of the "Queen Bee's" minions, Isolde, was there as well, sitting at the far right end of the class. She was chewing gum the whole time while looking out the windows, no one seemed to notice except her though. Finally, there was Cailan. When she wasn't looking at the board, reading her textbook, being annoyed by Isolde's gum chewing, or fiddling around with her mobile, she had her eyes glued to him. Luckily for her, he happened to be sitting at the desk in front of her, so she could ogle at him to her hearts content without drawing Howe's notice.

_Sigh "What a gorgeous man..." _Elissa thought. It was no wonder he was idolised across the school.

Everything about him was perfect. If what Morrigan said held any truth though, she needed to be very careful not to let her interest stray too far. She knew he was way out of her league, but that didn't mean she couldn't dream. In fact she was dreaming right now.

She pictured herself as a princess trapped high up in a tower, held captive by an evil witch. Prince Cailan, her knight in shining armour, would come to her rescue. First riding up to the tower on a white horse, then battling his way through all the guards and twisted creatures. Once he got halfway up, he would engage in combat with a dragon, it would be a hard fought battle, but in the end Cailan would finally fell the dragon with his mighty sword. "_Oh wow, that just went somewhere unexpected_. _Keep your mind out of the gutter Elissa_." Long story short, prince Cailan ends up slaying the evil witch and her and Cailan share a kiss. They then ride off into the sunset on Cailan's horse.

At this point Elissa's mind was completely elsewhere. So when, out of nowhere, Howe called her name, she found that she did not know how to respond. The raised eyebrow and scrutinising look on his face seemed to indicate that he had just asked her a question, but of course she did not hear it. She remained awkwardly silent for a moment, and then placed her hand beneath her chin, attempting to lend the impression that she was thinking.

"Come now, we haven't got all day."

She considered asking for him to repeat the question, but it was too late for that now, and she suspected Howe would lecture her on being inattentive if she did. "Hmm... well..." she said, whilst stroking her lower lip in contemplation. Howe leaned back on his desk, sighed, and then looked down at his watch. He then began drumming his fingers on the surface of his desk. "Well this isn't awkward at all." Elissa thought. "What do I do now. I guess the only option is to say I don't know."

"58" someone nearby whispered. "It's 58". Suddenly she realised that it was Cailan who was the one whispering to her. She nearly had a heart attack right there and then. But she managed to keep her cool long enough to answer.

"Um, 58."

"Thank the Maker! You certainly took your time answering."

"My apologies, Ser. My mind went blank for a bit."

"Apology not accepted. You need to pay more attention, girl. We'll discuss this more after class has finished."

Oh dear, not an after-class lecture. _Anything_ but that. A heavy feeling of dread suddenly filled Elissa from head to toe. She was not going to like this class or this teacher one bit. How on earth was she going to survive an entire year of this? But then her dread was almost instantly dispersed when Cailan, in his full glory, turned around to her and said "Don't worry. No one survives Howe on their first day.". _What?_ It was like he had just read her mind. She was completely dumbfounded.

And then he smiled.

Oh Maker... _the smile_. All of a sudden she felt like butter. Like she was a block of ice in a scorching hot desert. She knew she was going to melt any second. And she did melt, in a way. Her spontaneous overdose of pleasure had also involuntarily caused a few trickles of pee to release from within her.

"Oh... what an utterly absurd situation I am in." she thought to herself. She was stuck in a class room with the man of her dreams and the man of her nightmares whilst pee was slowly trickling down her thigh.

Cailan laughed. And what a delightfully beautiful laugh it was. So happy and easy-going. Just what she liked in a man. He then reached out his hand towards her. "Pleased to meet you. The name's Cailan."

She couldn't believe her eyes. Was this another day dream?

"C-C-Cailan?" she stuttered. Her cheeks had gone a soft scarlet colour. She stretched out her arm across the desk and united her hand with Cailan's. They shook. No, this was _definitely _real. The man had a remarkably strong grip. "I'm Elissa." .

"Ah, yes. I recognise you now. The one from the library. Your friend seemed to be having quite the laugh."

"Oh. You mean Morrigan? Yeah, sorry about that."

"Oh! No need to apologise. It wasn't you who laughed anyway. And besides, it's always good to see people having fun in this school. I would warn you about that Morrigan though, she can be a little.. nasty sometimes."

"Oh.. really?". Elissa said. She felt completely entranced. She was well and truly under his spell.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine here. You grow used to Howe eventually, just be sure not to -"

"Theirin and Cousland! Eyes up here _right_ this second! Don't make me put you two in detention."

"Sorry, Ser Howe." said Cailan. He turned his attention back to the board, and Elissa was forced to pry her gaze from him. A moment later, however, he turned around again, and whispered to Elissa "Good luck on your first day."

"Thank you." Elissa whispered back. And thus ended the one redeeming part of her entire mathematics class.

Shortly afterwards, while Howe had his back turned to the class, she let her eyes wander around the class room. Much to her alarm, she saw that Isolde was giving her the evil eye. She looked positively _murderous_. "Wow. Creeepy..." whispered Elissa to herself. Morrigan wasn't kidding when she said she'd be slaughtered if she even displayed the slightest interest in Cailan. By the Maker, that girl had perfected her death stare to a T!

Elissa reluctantly turned her attention to the board for the remainder of the lesson, it wasn't easy to keep her attention on Howe. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy mathematics as a subject, it's just that Howe was a _very_ strict teacher, and she didn't respond well to teaching methods that forced discipline and obedience on students, allowing no room for freedom or creativity.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the bell rang, signalling the end of class. Students rushed out of the room like a line of marching ants. Elissa remained in her seat, having remembered that Howe had asked her to stay behind. She feared the inevitable lecture which was to come, even more so since she was absolutely busting to go relieve herself in the nearest women's bathroom.

After packing up wiping the board and packing up his notebooks, Howe made his way over to Elissa. "_Oh no. This is going to get ugly_." she thought. He sat himself down on the edge of a nearby desk.

"Well, well. Another new student. What ever am I going to do with you, girl?"

Elissa remained silent. Anything she said would likely be used against her by Howe.

"Not even going to say anything, are we?"

"I'm sorry, Ser Howe. Really, I am. It's just that this is my first day and -"

"That doesn't excuse you for behaving inappropriately. Speaking without permission, using your phone in class, conversation with another student. All on your first day! I'm highly disappointed."

"I'm sorry, Ser Howe."

"Sorry doesn't cut it. You're lucky I haven't put you in detention. If you were one of my regular students then you could be sure you would be serving detention classes or washing and scrubbing the class room until every last inch of it was spotless. But since you're new, I'm going to allow you to get away with it. I'm going to tell you what I have told all the other inattentive new students in my classes, I'll give you a few days to adapt to my teaching methods, and if you don't learn to follow rules by then, then I can assure you the threat of detention will become _very _real."

"Yes, Ser Howe. Understood."

After staring at her patronisingly for a few moments longer he exhaled and said "Off you go then."

Elissa rose up from her seat and, without saying anything, collected her work stuff and walked out the door.

"Yes! The nightmare is finally over!" she thought. She felt as if she had just reached the top of a great mountain after a long and wearying climb.

"First thing's first". Elissa _rushed_ down the hallways, eager to reach the nearest bathroom. She knocked down several people in the process, but she'd have time to apologise to them later. At the time she only had one goal. _Nothing_ was going to get between her and that bathroom.

Finally she reached her destination. "_Sweet, sweet relief_"is all she could think.

* * *

"And there we have it, the extraordinary tale of my mathematics class. Featuring Rendon Howe as the grouchy teacher and Cailan Theirin as the knight in shining armour.""Oh, bravo!" clapped Leliana. "What an awful teacher though. No, I do not like those types one bit."

"Just hope you _never_ cross his path. Here I am blabbering on, though. I haven't asked you yet, how was your history class?"

"Oh, nothing special really. The teacher was alright, I suppose. Though he was a little bit of a bore. There were a few nice bits to the class here and there, however."

"Do tell! I'm eager to hear anything positive after what I suffered through."

And so began Leliana's story of her history class, featuring the teacher Eamon, a handsome man known as "Gilmore", and a friendly young dwarven girl called "Dagna".

The bell rang a short while after she finished her story. Both girls made their way to their next class. If Elissa's memory served her right, next up on the list was Chemistry.


	6. The friendly giant

**Chapter 6: The friendly giant**

Elissa had managed to find her way to the chemistry room without any trouble. Morrigan's guide really did work wonders!

One of the first things she noticed about the class room is that both the walls and floor appeared to be made out of some sort of metal. The whole room looked extremely sturdy. Good thing too, since Elissa would likely be causing more than a few fires and explosions around the place. Chemistry never was her forte, but her mother had insisted she take up the subject to "broaden her horizons", Yeah right, what a load of bull that was.

"Good morning class! Been studying your periodic tables I hope?"

What? Periodic tables? She hadn't heard anything about this. What did periodic tables have to do with chemistry? Oh Maker, OH MAKER! What was she going to do? She knew she'd forget something important.

"Because we'll be studying that in the coming weeks."

Oh, what a relief...

"Today, we're going to have a look at Sulphur. How it works, and how it reacts in to certain materials."

Sulphur, hey? Okay, this was cool. Elissa had remembered studying Sulphur in Highever, so this shouldn't be too difficult to understand.

"Now, if you all get set up at a table and form into six different groups, we can begin."

The teacher was an old man with a creaky voice, his name was Irving. He had a little bit of nerdy charm to him, as all science teachers do, but it was obvious that he knew what he was talking about. The man was extremely knowledgeable.

There was almost no one Elissa recognised in this class, save for Alistair, Cailan's brother. Since he was the only person in this class Elissa knew even a little bit about, she decided she may as well join whatever table he takes fancy to.

As she followed him she noticed there was a girl standing to his side, her hair was coloured honey blonde and she appeared to be playfully pushing him about. A girlfriend perhaps? Or maybe they were just good friends.

She approached the table where they were now setting themselves up. She decided to put on the "shy and innocent" act, putting her hands behind her back and walking slowly over towards the table.

"Excuse me, I don't suppose I might be able to work with you guys at this table?"

The blonde haired girl was the first to notice her.

"Who the hell are you? And why do you have your hands behind your back? You want _what_?"

Alistair then spoke up. "Goldanna! No need to be so rude. You'll have to excuse my sister. She can be a bit reckless sometimes." he groaned.

"Oh you love it, you little bastard." she laughed, softly hitting him on his shoulder with the palm of her hand.

"No, actually. I _really _don't. Sorry about, that. Sure, you're welcome to work here." he smiled.

"I-uh.. thank you. It's just that I'm new and stuff, and you're the only person I really recognised here, so I figured better here than anywhere else, right?"

"Ah yes! That's right. You're one of the new girls, aren't you? We met in the hallway."

"Yes. We found the classroom by the way. Thanks."

"You're welcome." he laughed. "My name is Alistair, by the way.". He held out his hand. Elissa greeted it with her own.

"Elissa." she smiled.

She had to admit she felt some attraction towards him. It was strange, it wasn't as obvious as it was with Cailan, but it was still there. He seemed to be polite and charming, which was great. She couldn't say the same for his sister though.

"Another new blood, eh?" giggled Goldanna. "No offence love, but you're not going to survive a week here."

"Oh come off it Goldanna. Just because she's new here doesn't mean she's going to be eaten alive."

"Actually, it kinda does. I thought you of all people would know this, Ali. You have to prove you're a winner if you have any hope of surviving at this school. Otherwise you'll get chewed up, swallowed down and spit up at the drop of a hat."

"Whatever." said Alistair resentfully, giving Goldanna a spiteful sidewards glance.

As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew there was some truth to Goldanna's argument. She couldn't appear too vulnerable. This place was like a wild savannah, every animal was out for themselves. She had to grow a backbone at some point or she would be picked apart by Howe, Isolde and the like.

"Okay! Time to begin,class!" shouted Irving. "The first step, as you all know, is to light up your Bunsen burner. Be sure to put on the safety gloves, otherwise you might burn yourself!"

* * *

Elissa played a minor role in the whole process. Her main purpose being to fetch supplies and wipe up anything accidentally spilt on the desk. Alistair asked her a few times whether she would prefer to do something more important, but each time she politely refused, saying she much preferred taking care of the menial tasks. Doing otherwise would likely end up causing some disaster.

She recalled the time when she was in Highever and mixed two chemicals that weren't supposed to go together, causing the spontaneous combustion of the glass flask. This in turn led to the class room setting on fire, and soon after the fire alarm went off and every student and teacher was forced to evacuate the vicinity. It was only a 15 minutes later when the fire department finally arrived and managed to quell the fire. Luckily the damage to the school was only minor, but Elissa was henceforth banned from chemistry. She couldn't believe her surprise when she wasn't banned from the actual school. All things considered, she had narrowly avoided a potentially cataclysmic disaster, but ever since that event she has had a phobia of the mixing chemicals.

* * *

Almost half an hour had now passed.

"Alright everyone. I think that's enough experimenting with the sulphur for now. We wouldn't want to set the class room on fire now would we! Oh-ho-ho-ho."

Everyone in the class room laughed, except for Elissa.

"Our next experiment is going to involve water. So, everyone, if you will, head over to the taps and fill up your beakers about half way with water."

Elissa followed her two companions to the taps, beaker in hand.

Goldanna was the first of the three to fill up, then it was Alistair's turn. Elissa took this opportunity to ask him a question.

"So, you and Cailan..."

"Ah yes, my dear friend Cailan. Jolly old pal." said Alistair in a sarcastic tone of voice.

"Believe me, I know how difficult it can be trying to live in the shadow of an older sibling. Being a female, I was always overshadowed by my brother Fergus, he was the "man" in the family and thus the responsible one, while I was the "precious little girl" who needed to be eternally defended. My parents always said I was the "apple of their eye", and I guess they were being truthful, but there were times when I really had to fight and prove myself worthy in order to avoid fading into obscurity while my brother stood on a pedestal 24/7."

"Yeah? Sounds familiar. My brother has always been the star, but he's a nice guy, I guess. Goldanna's always been the bossy middle sister, and I'm the poor unfortunate sod who's stuck at the bottom of the food chain, who no one ever takes the slightest interest in."

"So, you've never tried to, you know, stand up to them? Prove yourself to be their equals?"

"Prove myself? Dozens of times, nothing good has ever come of it though." he laughed "I usually just end up making a fool of myself."

Elissa sighed sympathetically. "Yeah, siblings can be a pain in the ass sometimes."

"You got that right." said Alistair. He walked back towards his table.

Elissa went over to the running tap and filled up her flask half way with water. She then turned the tap off, which was surprisingly difficult. "What's up with taps that are difficult to turn off?" Elissa thought "That has to be one of my pet peeves."

She walked back to the table and set her flask down.

"So Alistair, I saw you in the library."

"Ah! So you did. I remember now. You were hanging out with... Morrigan. I hope you don't mind me saying, but I _hate_ that blasted witch with a passion."

"Yes, she said your relationship was... uneasy."

"Uneasy? Ha! That's putting it mildly. She and I have a long standing rivalry. She likes to get in my hair at any given chance."

"Well, you can't win them all can you?"

"No, that's true."

Irving spoke out "Okay everybody, Bunsen burners on once again. Make sure to put on your -"

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud creaking sound. The door had just opened and someone was - "By the maker" Elissa thought. What... was that?

An extremely tall and hefty figure had just walked through the door. He looked to be close to seven feet tall! He was very muscular, had a dark, bronze coloured skin and white hair which was tied up into a ponytail.

"Who is _that_?" said Elissa. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"_That_ is Sten. He's a Qunari. The only one in the entire school in fact. Don't be intimidated by his appearance, he's a big softie deep down. And he loooves to eat cookies at the cafeteria."

"Cookies?" said Elissa.

"Yes, Cookies."

"Wow. I've never heard of a "Qunari" before in my life. Where are they from?"

"Hell if I know. Somewhere up north I think. Apparently they practice a religion called "Qun" or something, I guess that's the equivalent of the Chantry over in Qunari land."

"Interesting."

"Sten, almost an hour late I see?" said Irvine reproachingly.

"I was in the middle of something.. important." he grunted. He had a very deep voice.

"Important enough to miss almost an hour of class time?"

"Yes. But I would rather not discuss it here."

"I see. We'll discuss this after class has finished. Find a table."

Sten scanned the room, looking for a place to set himself up. He didn't seem to be particularly interested in any of the tables, but then he set his sight on where Elissa's table was, and he began making his way over.

"Oh wow. This should be an interesting experience."

"Yep." said Alistair happily. "Sten's a friendly fellow. You'll see. Just try not to mention mages. Or magic. Or the Qun. Or cookies."

"Uh, ok." said Elissa nervously.

Sten arrived at the table and set himself up. "Hey big guy!" said Alistair. Patting Sten on the shoulder.

"Hello" said Sten.

"Okay class, now as I was saying. Make sure to put on your safety gear.."

Around 10 minutes had passed. Elissa felt the urge to ask Sten something, but didn't want to come off as being too rude or overly curious.

"So, uh, Sten is it?" said Elissa.

"Yes? What is it? I see you are new here."

"Yeah, that's right. First day! Heh. You know, y-you're the first.. um, of your kind I've ever seen."

"Fascinating." said Sten.

"Uh-oh." said Goldanna. "You better watch out, love. This big fellow doesn't take too kindly to women."

Sten gave a disapproving grunt.

"Really, Goldanna? His culture has different views on women and their roles, that's all. Doesn't mean he hates their guts. S_heesh_."

"You dress it up whatever way you want Ali. I know a misogynist when I see one."

"Oh really? I doubt you even know what that word means."

"Hey, hey!" said Elissa, intervening. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start a fuss. I just wanted to say how cool it is to meet a member of a people I never even knew existed!"

"Don't listen to Goldanna. Sten doesn't hate women. In fact, he's quite the ladies man, arent'cha buddy?" he laughed.

"Yeah right.." said Goldanna.

"_Parshaara_" said Sten, sighing.

"Oh yeah, that's one other thing." whispered Alistair to Elissa. "Qunari have their own language."

"Oh, really? That's cool. What did he just say?"

"No blooming idea. Why don't I ask him?" said Alistair.

"Hey Sten, I was wondering. Would you be able to translate some words for -"

"No." stated Sten, bluntly.

"Oh."

* * *

The bell rang, signalling the end of class.

"Good work everybody. Make sure to leave your gloves and goggles on the table before you go."

"Well, what do you know." thought Elissa "That wasn't nearly as bad as I predicted. I didn't even cause any explosions. Maybe I wasn't as bad at chemistry as I thought. On the other hand, I didn't really do any chemical mixing, so maybe it's too soon to say."

"So, officially survived your first day then?" asked Alistair.

"Yeah, I guess I have! Whoo! What a relief."

"You're telling me. I still remember my first day. Butterflies in my stomach."

"Yeah. I've sort of been feeling nervous the whole day. There are just so many people here, and this place is so large! It's all overwhelming. But I think I feel a little better now." said Elissa, smiling. Alistair smiled back. Once again they held eye contact for a time, and a strange feeling rushed through Elissa, it was the same feeling she had felt when she met his eyes in the hallway at the beginning of the day.

"Well, it was nice meeting you... um.. er.."

"Elissa." she laughed.

"Er.. right. Elissa. Sorry, I'm terrible with remembering names." a blush began to appear on his face.

"Well that makes two of us."

"Well, I-I'll see you around then.. Elissa."

"You too Alistair." she smiled. "Bye!"

"Bye!"

What _was _that feeling? She already knew she felt some attraction towards him, but there was something else there as well. Something deeper than what she had felt with Cailan and Zevran and other attractive boys in the school. She couldn't pick it up though, it was just out of the reaches of her conciousness.

"But never mind that." thought Elissa. She had officially passed her first day of school. She needed to pack up and get the hell out of there. Then she could come back home, play with Koba, give her Highever friends a ring and watch cheesy romantic television programs and crime dramas for the remainder of the day.

Taking her gloves off, she began to dust herself down. Even though technically she didn't have anything on her, science subjects in general usually left her with a strong feeling of uncleanliness and a desire to wash herself in a shower.

"So, care to explain yourself, Sten?"

Apart from the teacher and Sten, Elissa was the last person left in the room. She knew she shouldn't be listening in, but she couldn't help it. She was interested in learning more about this strange person, never before had she seen anything like him. It was hard to believe she could be so gentle. And so she pretended to be busy, fiddling around with glassware and scrubbing the table surface.

"Yes. I suppose I must."

"Well, go on then." insisted Irvine

"In the first place, while I was on my way to Chemistry, I got involved in combat."

"Combat? You mean a school-yard scrap? My goodness, are you alright?"

"Clearly. As you can see, I don't have a mark on me. A small group of humans were attempting to provoke me, throwing racial slurs at me and abusing frequent repetition of derogatory language. I ignored them, as I normally do in these situations. The humans then resorted to violence, I attempted to dissuade them, but unsuccessfully. Foolhardy and filled with blind rage, they rushed at me, intending to knock me over. I was forced to defend myself, and quickly swung my arm in front of me. Their entire plan of attack went pair-shaped right then and there. Instead of forcing me to the ground as they intended, they instead collided with my arm and fell down themselves. All three are in first aid as we speak, one with a broken nose."

Irvine was in a state of momentary shock, as was Elissa. Irvine's mouth was hanging agape. It looked almost comical, actually.

"You mean to say, you caused three students to end up in first aid?"

"Yes. However, it was they who launched the attack on me, and also provoked me. Therefore, I would ask of you that they be punished, rather than myself. What I did was purely an act self defence. The humans were.. "bullies"? I believe that is the term. And thus deserve prosecution."

"Oh my.. I.. I'm going to have to take this up with the principle. It will be taken from there. I doubt you will be punished however, the principle is a forgiving man. In the event that you come across another situation like this, I would advise you to ignore the offenders. Also, always be sure to tell a teacher or member of staff."

"Understood."

"Okay. So there was an attack, but surely that can't fully account for you being almost an hour late?"

"Yes, there was also something else. While walking through the courtyard it came to my attention that there appeared to be a creature of some kind rustling about within one of the taller trees. I went to examine the tree, and on closer observation, discovered that the creature was in fact a cat of small size. A "kitten" is the term I believe."

Irvine raised an eyebrow. "A kitten? There was a kitten in one of the courtyard trees? Why do I find this hard to believe?"

"Oh no! The poor thing!" thought Elissa. "I wonder how it got up there?".

"The creature was clearly in distress, and couldn't get down from it's position in the tree tops. I felt pity for it, and so decided to climb up there myself, retrieve the cat, and head back down to the ground. The journey was perilous, as the tree itself was the largest in the courtyard. I then proceeded to take it to the reception office, where it is now being held while they search for the owner. Go down there yourself if you don't believe me."

Both Irvine and Elissa were amazed by what they heard, even more so than with the previous story. This time, the shock was positive though.

"Oh my goodness." Elissa thought.

"You.. saved a kitten?"

"_He saved a kitten!_"

"I commend you. That was a very noble act."

"_Sten saved a friggin' KITTEN!_"

"I suppose I can see now why you were so late. I'll converse with the principle on both matters. However, I am truly glad that you were able to save the life of that animal. Glad enough that I'm willing to not give you a detention or even a lecture, as I suspect some other teachers would. Don't let it happen again, though."

"Thank you. Next time I will try and avoid a late arrival." said Sten, and he walked away.

Elissa had doubted Alistair when he had told her that Sten was a "friendly fellow". But now all that doubt had completely evaporated. Sure, he was an incredibly stalwart man, and he had knocked down and broken the nose of three students, but he rescued a kitten! Elissa loved animals, and because of that heart-warming act, she already considered him amongst her friends, even if her appreciation was as of now unrequited.

And besides, she always liked it when people were able to stand up to the mean spirited. It's something she never had the courage to do herself.

"Why are you still here?" said Irvine, laughing. "Go on, shoo!"

She had almost forgotten how long she had been standing there. "Oops! Sorry Ser. I'll go now." Elissa then promptly fled out of the classroom.

* * *

"Home sweet home, here I come." Elissa said in success as she was passing through the front doors of Denerim High.

Finally the day was over, and she had made it out in one piece! Who would've ever thought she'd run into so many interesting people in one day? This place was bustling with activity!

But she knew that today was just the very beginning of a long journey to come.


	7. Mission complete!

**Chapter 7: Mission complete**

Elissa had no sooner walked through the front door of her house than she was greeted by her mother, who appeared to be all smiles and sunshine. She took her bag from her and then began talking.

"Hello dear! Glad to see you home. How was your first day? Tell me all about it."

"Uh.. I'm just eager to get some rest. Let's go to the lounge, we can talk there."

And so they proceeded to the lounge room. Elissa practically fell down onto the sofa.

"Ah, that feels like heaven."

"Come now, Elissa, tell me how your first day at Denerim High went."

"Oh yeah. Well, it went a lot better than expected. The students seem.. interesting. And I even made a few friends."

Her mother's face lit up with joy. "My, my, your first day at a new school and already you're making friends. That's my girl."

"It wasn't all a stroll through a sunny park on a Saturday though, there were a few annoyances. Such as my maths teacher. Oh my... words can't even begin to describe how much of a ass-hole he is. Luckily there was this very attractive boy sitting on a desk in front of me. Oh mom, you should have seen him, he _stole_ my heart away. He's such a nice guy."

"It _does_ sound like an interesting day. But you look utterly exhausted, my dear. We can talk all about your day, but first, what do you say I fix you up a nice glass of cool lemonade?"

"I'd love that. Thanks mom. By the way, is Koba around?"

"Why yes, he's roaming around outside in the backyard. No doubt he'll be excited to see you. You mustn't forget to take him for a walk later on."

"Don't worry, I won't forget."

* * *

The remainder of the day consisted of talking with mom, walking and playing with Koba, chatting with her Highever buddies over her cellphone, lazing about on her ass watching TV and having dinner with mom and dad. After all was said and done, it was time to go to bed.

Overall her first school day had been an exhausting one, but she took comfort in the knowledge that every day spent at Denerim High would make her more familiar with it, and she would thus grow in her confidence. She would continue to meet interesting people in school and, with luck, even make some valuable friends.

After turning her bedside light off Elissa made a wish to herself, she wished that she would become as happy here as she was in Highever. There was also another wish she made, except this one was much more private, and a part of her was almost embarrassed about it, she wished to find love.

Highever was a wonderful place, and she knew the most amazing people there, but no one she loved in a romantic sense. Sure, there were a few hotties here and there, but she didn't fall in love with anyone. Denerim High might be the same, it was already showing promise with people like Cailan. But a simple crush was a far cry from a proper relationship.

Elissa never had a boyfriend, and she was also still a virgin. Unlike many other girls her age, however, she wasn't really concerned about sex. More than anything, she just wanted a shoulder to lean on, someone she could be with for the rest of her life, and someone who she loved to pieces, but of course the feeling had to be mutual. Elissa was aware she was a major offender of "wishful thinking", as her Highever friends termed it, but she would always reply "A girl can dream, can't she?". Her hopes couldn't be _all_ fantasy, there has to be someone out there who is perfect for her, it's just a matter of finding them. Talk about a needle in a haystack...

But now was not the time for worrying about love, she had a whole day to do that tomorrow. Now was the time to rest up. If she was going to survive another day at her new school she would need as much sleep as humanly possible.


	8. A new day

**Chapter 8: A new day**

A new day had begun, and with it, a new adventure awaited her.

After having breakfast Elissa once again made her way to Denerim High; She lived relatively close by to the school, so she could afford to walk there instead of catching a bus.

As she approached the front doors some of the first people who caught her eye were Zevran and his gang. They appeared to eyeing up every girl who walked by and assessing their attractiveness. As Elissa passed by they let out a quiet, drawn-out humming sound, she couldn't tell quite what it was, but it sounded something like "mmhmmm.". Did that mean they thought she was cute? She knew she should feel offended by essentially being viewed as a sex object, but instead it made her feel slightly more comfortable in her own skin.

Elissa was never the type that stared at her own reflection all day. She always took herself to be generally average looking, a plain Jane, otherwise how could she not have found love yet? She always tried to dress pretty, but she never actually considered that people might actually have crushes on her. Oh! The very thought of it sent sparks and shivers around her body.

* * *

Her parents had once again lined out her subjects for the day during breakfast. They also gave her a schedule, which they had forgotten to put in her bag the day before, so she was a lot more prepared on the whole. Her next subject was phys. ed. . Oh boy, this could very well be her most difficult subject, but hopefully it would also be rewarding. She had never done P.E in all her years of Highever, so it was likely that she was going to sustain several injuries. She had occasionally watched the boys playing soccer and basketball with her friends during lunch breaks however (and by the Maker they were gorgeous, especially considering they had a penchant for playing without their shirts on during summer time) and they were extremely competitive. She even played with them on a few occasions during lunch, and sure enough she got completely trampled on. She didn't score a single goal, she could barely manage to dribble a basketball and she couldn't kick a soccer ball straight to save her life.

It was another one of those subjects which Elissa had no desire to do but was forced – no, "encouraged" - to do against her will by one of her parents, this time it was her dad. Her father, Bryce, used to be quite the sportsman, he earned numerous medals during his school and college years which he displays proudly on his "trophy shelf" within his room. Obviously this skill didn't pass on to Elissa. Fergus was quite good at sports, he won awards in swimming and football. Even Eleanor had achieved awards in archery, lacrosse and, believe it or not, croquet (yeah, she was posh like that). But Elissa..? ZILCH. Elissa sighed in disappointment and continued to make her way to the oval beyond the courtyard.

* * *

Sure enough, there they were. All the students were either jogging around the oval, doing stretches, or talking to each other. As soon as Elissa saw them she knew she was going to be demolished. "_Is it too late to bail out now?_"

There were a couple recognisable people here and there. One was Oghren, the "school drunk" apparently. Although incredibly scruffy in appearance, he still looked built enough to knock down a small brick pillar, with effort. Next to him was Branka, the brown haired dwarf girl. Obviously Morrigan was correct when she said they would never be seen apart. Over to the right side of the oval was Cauthrien, she appeared to be very focused and was doing leg exercises. Elissa hoped she didn't run into her at any stage (literally OR figuratively). The last person was Cailan. "_I have __Cailan in two of my classes now? Score!_" was Elissa's immediate thought. But then she realised this could be a bad thing. What if she becomes distracted on the field and ends up face-planting herself into the dirt?

The teacher was a man with long, raven coloured hair. He went by the name of "Riordan" and hailed from Orlais. She wouldn't call him attractive in the strictest sense of the word, but he did have an almost ruggedly handsome charm to him.

Riordan yelled out to everyone, telling them to gather in a circle.

"_This is it_." thought Elissa "_The point of no return_.". She felt a shiver run through her body.

"Okay everybody. Since today is your first P.E. Lesson for the year, we're going to be focusing on warm-up techniques."

"Boring" said Cauthrien.

"I'm sorry?" replied Riordan, looking slightly insulted.

"Come on. We _always_ do warm up techniques. You drum it into our heads on an almost daily basis. I mean, hello? Don't you think we've got the message by now?"

"Well, Cauthrien, in case you couldn't tell. There are some new students here today. It's imperative that we go over these techniques, otherwise they may be unprepared for the field, or in worse case scenario they could suffer potential injury."

"Well then teach _them_ and let us regulars do our own thing."

But Riordan was intent on convincing Cauthrien to change her attitude.

"It doesn't work that way. No, I'll not accept that. Every one of my students deserves the full support and attention of both myself and their peers. You over-exaggerate, I try and remind my students as often as possible to do arm and leg exercises, yes, as preparation for games, but we only have in-depth warm-up techniques once, maybe twice per year. Come now, Cauthrien, if you have any hope of getting into the cheer-leading squad then these types of techniques are _vital_."

"Ugh, okay okay. Let's just get on with it then."

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying.. We're going to be focusing on warm up techniques. We'll start with basic leg exercises then move on to the arms and then we'll try some more advanced techniques."

* * *

Elissa had been following Riordan's instructions for some time now. Her movements were awkward and there were times when she could barely keep up or when she was just plain confused. There were also a few things which she just _couldn't_ do. "I mean, really, how is it even humanly possible to stretch your leg in that direction?"

She was standing behind almost everybody else, save for a few people, so not too many people would notice if she stuffed up. Unluckily, Cauthrien was included among those few people behind her. She could sense her giggling a few times when she made muck-ups. Elissa's guilty pleasure, which she tried to avoid as much as possible for her own sake, was checking out Cailan's behind. She found that whenever her eyes travelled in his direction she began to lose her balance. In fact, she toppled over at least twice.

"Okay, good work so far everybody. Now, with your left leg still on the ground, I want you to grab hold of your right leg with your right hand. Grab the area just above the ankle, like so... and slowly pull it back behind you. Try and pull back as far as you can without losing your bal-"

**THUMP!**

"Ow..."

"Oh dear. What has happened here.." said Riordan.

Elissa had been trying to pull her leg back when all of a sudden she heard a snapping sound and she fell down in panic. She went face first into the ground, getting dirt all over her face and injuring her nose in the process.

"**Ahaha!** Poor sod." cackled Cauthrien.

A few other people began joining in on the laughter.

"Enough!" shouted Riordan. "I'll not have you laughing at other people's misfortunes. Behave like adults, the lot of you!"

Elissa knew she was going to stuff up eventually. But she didn't know it would be this painful. The moment her head hit the ground, it felt like a heavy rock had just been dropped on her head. Pain coursed through every inch of her head in a flash.

All she could see was dirt and grass. She was too weak to lift her head up, and too embarrassed. She felt a hand come into contact with her hand.

"Are you alright?"

She forced herself to look up. Lo and behold, the man before her eyes was Cailan. She had expected it to be Riordan, but this was a _much_ more pleasant surprise.

"I.. y-yeah. I'm fine." she smiled.

"Make way!" shouted Riordan, who was a short distance away.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Riordan will fix you up." said Cailan, smiling.

"Wow... your smile is like sunshine."

Cailan let out an awkward laugh. "Uh.. thanks?"

Elissa's face went red all of a sudden. Had she just said that OUT LOUD? "_Dammit, you silly girl Elissa._" she thought. "_As if falling into the ground wasn't bad enough, now you've gone and made a complete fool of yourself in front of your number 1 crush!_"

Cailan stood up and walked aside while Riordan knelt by her. He put his hand on her forehead and brushed away some of the dirt.

"You took a pretty nasty fall. Are you alright?"

"Um, yeah. I'm fine. Well.. actually, my head kind of hurts. And I think I might have hurt my nose. Something snapped in my leg too, I think. That's why I fell over."

"Come on, let's get you up." said Riordan. He put his arm underneath her shoulder and lent support to her, helping her to stand up. Upon getting back up Elissa noticed that there was no pain in either of her legs. How strange. She must have just lost her balance. But then what was that sound?

"Can you stand up fine?"

"Yeah. There's no pain in my legs, but I thought I heard a snapping sound."

"A snapping sound you say? I doubt it's anything major. That happens sometimes when people move their legs like that. It's just the fluid between your joints popping. Like when you crack your knuckles. I wouldn't worry too much about it if it doesn't hurt. It looks like your head took a bit of a beating tough. Your nose is slightly bruised too. You'll probably be fine, but perhaps it's safer to take you to first aid?"

"No, thank you. I'll be fine. I promise."

"Good. That's the spirit. That was the most tricky part of the exercise anyway, people have had trouble with that technique before, believe me. Don't strain yourself too much though, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good." said Riordan. Patting Elissa on the back.

"_Wow_" thought Elissa. "_What an episode. I probably look like sh*t now. I should go check out my face after the lesson is over._"

* * *

"Okay class, time for some star jumps. Repeat after me... Yes, that's it! Good work. Contract, expand, contract, expand. Keep up Oghren! You may have a stocky build, but that just means you have to jump quicker. And don't tell me you can't do it just because you're a dwarf. Why, just look at Branka next to you! She's going at it like a trooper."

"Ugh –** pant - **sodding nug-humper – **pant – **you just wait – **pant – **wait 'till we get to the _real _stuff – **wheeze** - Then we'll see who the _trooper_ is. - **wheeze – **and get that smug smile off your face, or I'll tear you a new hole!"

"Poor Oghren" sighed Branka "The only thing worse than your stench and your insults is your ability in bed."

"Ooh, burn." said a nearby student.

"You're _really _not cut out for this Oghren. You know it, I know it, the school knows it, even your mother knows it!"

The class began breaking out into laughs once again. While Oghren muttered something inappropriate under his breath.

"Ugh, star jumps are the lamest exercise in the world. I am so sick of this already." complained Cauthrien.

Elissa rolled her eyes "_Seriously, is whining all she ever does? Shut up!_"

"Keep up that pace everybody. I'm going to turn on some music for a few minutes."

"_Music, hey?_" thought Elissa "_This should be exciting._"

"_Please _let the music be decent and not that ridiculous classical stuff we listened to last time." said Cauthrien.

"Yes, I do quite agree." said Branka "The sight of Cauthrien's breasts swinging around in circles to slow violin is a vision that will scar me for quite some time."

Laughs once again broke out among the class, Elissa and Cailan included among them.

"Skank." whispered Cauthrien venomously. But she was not as quiet as she had intended.

"Aww." said Branka sadly. "You should stop being so hard on yourself dear."

And yet again more laughs.

That's when the music finally kicked in! It turned out to be an up-tempo techno beat. There was a collective "Woo!" from most of the class. Cauthrien remained silent, although whether this was due to her not liking the choice of music or being too embarrassed from her verbal whiplash by Branka was unknown. One thing was certain though, Branka was now on her "unrequited friendship" list, along with Sten. She loved any person who stood up to the shrews.

* * *

Riordan had said the music would only go on for a few more minutes, but it ended up lasting for the remainder of the lesson, much to her delight. Multiple techno based songs, perfect for working out and getting "pumped up", while also being suitable for the clubs, not that she had ever actually been to any.

"Okay class. Very good work today. Especially the new people. I'd like to remind you that even if you have a few muck-ups, it's the effort that counts. It's all part of the process of becoming better at sports anyway. Like the old saying goes, "If at first you don't succeed, try try again.". Now get out of here! Next time we'll be getting into some of the real stuff, so I want you to be prepared. Oh, and don't expect me to play any more music for a while either." laughed Riordan.

"_Well,_" she thought "_that went a lot better than expected, I face planted myself into the ground, but I suppose it could have turned out a lot worse. I must look like a train wreck now though, better go clean myself up._"

The students began disbanding from the area. On her way out Cauthrien couldn't resist the urge to make a snide remark against Elissa "The new girl, right? Nice trip there, the dirt-covered face look suits you." she made a spin on her heel and began strutting away.

Elissa curled her hand into a tight fist "_You talk to me that way again and we'll see who has a dirt covered face._"

"Eh, ignore her." burped Oghren "She's always been a nasty piece of work, that one. I'm telling you, it's like she's got a severe case of the Monday's. If I were you I'd steer clear of that wench at all costs."

"Thanks. I'll take note."

She picked up her bag and made her way off the oval.

"Hey, are you okay?" a voice from behind yelled before she had gotten more than half way off the grass.

Elissa turned around and was almost stunned when she saw the man the voice belonged to. It was Cailan. He was making his way over to her. She began panicking.

"Oh! Me? Yes, I'm fine. Thanks. Oh, and thank you for.. uh, coming to my aid when I fell down."

"Heh, don't mention it." he said, brushing the back of his head with his hand. "I couldn't just stand there while someone fell to the ground like that. It was stupid for people to laugh at you. Sorry about that."

"Please, there's no reason for you to be sorry. I should've been watching my balance. I'm grateful for what you did though."

Sweat had now begun coursing down her like a waterfall. She could feel her cheeks filling with blood. She must look like an absolute clown. Oh maker, this didn't seem real. Was Cailan really showing concern for her? Or was this just another one of her daydreams?

"Wow, you don't look too well. Are you sure you don't need to visit the infirmary?"

"_Damn it! Straighten up Elissa! This is NOT the time for perspiration_."

"No, I'm fine. Really. It's just a bit of dirt on the face and a bruised -"

"Oh, yeah, there is quite a bit of dirt still there. It isn't really too noticeable though" said Cailan "Here, let me get some of that off for you."

He reached his hand towards her face and gently brushed the dirt away, starting with her forehead, travelling down to her cheeks and then lightly brushing off her chin. His fingers were soft and smooth to the touch, and each time his skin made contact with hers, she felt a little drop of heaven fall on her. She was on cloud 9. Drunk with pleasure. She simply couldn't understand, how could any man be this perfect? The whole process must have taken no more than 5 seconds, but it felt like it went on forever. She could actually feel her heart beating, each second that passed she grew more in love with him. Could this be the first sign that her affections weren't completely unreturned? Surely there had to be more to what had just passed than a simple act of friendliness? The soft, prolonged, stroke of his fingers from her forehead down to her cheek told her that there _had_ to be something there.

"O-Oh. Wow... now that you mention it, I am feeling a little faint! Like I'm going to fall over." she laughed nervously.

"How about I take you to the first aid? Do you know the way?"

"K-Know.. the way? Uh, oh yeah. I think so. I should be fine."

He laughed and smiled cutely "If you say so. Take it easy, okay?". He waved to her and then began jogging away.

"_What? Uh, did I really just say I didn't want to walk with Cailan to first aid? How stupid can you BE Elissa? Shame on you!_"

And with that Elissa let out a loud sigh.

"HA! Looks like someone's got the hots for the pretty-boy. You were practically in each others pants." shouted Oghren from behind her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." responded Elissa. But her blushing face told another story. "And I'd ask you not to spread baseless rumour around the school."

With that said Elissa continued walking away. If she remembered correctly, her next subject after this was drama, that meant she only had a short time to go and fix herself up. The last thing she wanted was to get up in front of a crowd of judgemental teenagers looking like she had just walked into the middle of a mud fight.

"_Let's hope these doctors and nurses know how what they're doing. I'd rather not be late for drama. Hell, maybe they'll even diagnose me with "obsessive schoolgirl crush" syndrome." _


	9. Healing touch

**Chapter 9: Healing touch**

"Excuse me?"

An elderly lady with bushy brown hair and heavy make up sitting behind the counter looked up from her computer screen. "Yes, dear? How may we – Oh my! Look at you! You poor thing! It looks like someone's taken the rough end of the stick. I assume you're here to get that nasty nose bruise cleaned up?"

"Well, yes. Someone suggested I come here."

"Just as well. With a face like that it would only have been a matter of time until someone shouted "Darkspawn invasion!" and we were all forced to evacuate." she laughed heartily.

"_What? Come on, I don't look that atrocious, do I? Thanks for boosting my self-esteem, lady._"

"Oh, I'm just joking dear. Step through the door to your right and we'll be right with you."

"Thanks.."

Elissa stepped through into the first aid office. The room was stark white and there were many medical gadgets scattered across it. It was also very well decorated, whoever operated this space had a very fashionable taste in décor. Elissa sat herself down on a nearby leather couch.

"Oooh, so comfy." she said out loud. It was the kind of couch you could just sink into and fall asleep on. In fact, if not for the ticking of the clock on the wall, she would have.

* * *

After a few minutes of waiting, she grew bored and decided to take out her phone. It was a touch-screen phone with internet access and many other features. It had cost quite a bit of money because it was the latest in it's line, and she practically had to get on her hands and knees and beg her parents to buy it. In return, she took care of housework for them for an entire 3 weeks. This later resulted in her becoming a part-time dishwasher for a low-scale cafe in the Highever slums. She quit after only two months due to the stress being placed on her by her fellow staff members and since then has never taken up another job. Luckily when it came to school she was a lot more committed. As far as relationships went, she had held long friendships with her Highever friends since her childhood, and she hoped to also create some long term friends in the students of this school. Now romance... that was a whole 'nother ballgame. Would she be able to handle marriage when she was older or would she cave under pressure? She knew she was too young for marriage, but she couldn't help thinking into the future from time to time. What kind of wife would she be? Where would she settle down? She decided to take her mind off the subject entirely and return to her phone.

She opened up the internet and searched "AppleBeeChat", a social network site which was highly popular across Fereldan. She saw her brother was online, so she wrote "_Hi. How are you?_", but there was no response. Typical. Ever since he joined a highly esteemed college in Highever he had apparently been too busy to waste any time on his family. Even during the holidays he rarely spoke to them, he was too busy going on vacations to Antiva with his college sweetheart, Oriana. Unfortunately none of her Highever buddies were online. She was about to log off before she noticed she had a new friend request. "Hm, who could this be?" she wondered, and clicked on the friend icon.

It turned out the friend request was from Alistair. Elissa was surprised, as she barely knew the man, but he seemed like a very friendly guy from what she experienced in Chemistry. Why would he be interested in Elissa? Just trying to boost up his friend count? Or perhaps..? But no, Elissa tried to avoid letting her mind wander there again. It was most likely just done as a friendly gesture.

"Accept." said Elissa, touching the button, and then logged out.

The door creaked open.

"Just take a seat through there. The doctor should be here any minute now."

Elissa raised her head to see a small looking man with scrunched up facial features and messy, cinnamon coloured hair.

"Oh, hello! I didn't notice you there. My name's Herren, doctor Wade's assistant. He shouldn't be long now."

Elissa smiled and nodded.

"Elissa? What are you doing here?"

She recognised the voice almost instantly.

"Oh, hey Leliana. I was in P.E. And was trying to bend my right leg behind me. I ended up losing my balance and fell face first into the dirt. Guess I wasn't as flexible as I thought."

"Oh no!" she said, frowning. She placed her hand on Elissa's shoulder in consolation. "You poor dear! Your nose looks like it's got quite a bruise on it. I hope they fix you up."

"Thanks. So, why are you in here?"

Leliana laughed "Well, it's pretty embarrassing actually, but I tripped while walking down one of the cement steps and accidentally twisted my ankle! Oh my, you should have seen the students. I made a complete fool of myself!"

"Aww. You have my sympathies, Leliana. I can totally relate. After I tripped down I became the laughing stock of the class. In particular Cauthrien. That girl _really_ rubs me the wrong way."

"Ah, one of the popular girls was it? Yes, I had a fashion class just before this and the petite blonde girl, "Isolde" I think her name was? Kept glancing in my direction. I could tell she was gossiping behind my back to her friends, she didn't do a very good job of concealing it."

"Isolde.. I swear, if she chews or pops gum in my maths class one more time I'm going to stick it in her hair. Maybe she was just jealous that you have a better fashion sense than her?"

Leliana laughed. "Maybe."

"Anyhow, what class do you have after this?"

"Drama."

"You've got to be kidding? Me too! This should be exciting. I think I remember the way to the drama room... vaguely."

"According to the map I looked at earlier it should be the first door down a hallway to the left of the auditorium. I swear, Elissa, this place is like a labyrinth. In my previous school in Val Royeaux, everything was much more open and easy to get to. Our school was actually built around a giant statue of Andraste."

"Seriously? Wow. Now that I think of it, this place could really use some statues."

* * *

There were a few minutes of silence between the girls as they waited patiently for the doctor to arrive. Leliana decided to pick up a magazine and flip through the pages.

Elissa filled her cheeks with air and then slowly breathed out. "_How much longer?"_

Out of nowhere the door swung open and a man in a bright red trench-coat made a dramatic entrance. "I'm baaaaaaack!" he cried. It was obvious this man was the doctor. About time. He was dark skinned and bald and had a very impressive brown moustache. The first image that came to Elissa's head was "flamboyant genius".

"Oh my, I'm terribly sorry for the delay my dear patients. I promise I'll make it up to you. But you must understand that when you are under "interrogation" by that fool Greagoir it is incredibly difficult to escape. I kept telling him "I have patients to attend to" but he wouldn't have a word of it. Fisticuffs to him!"

"Oh come now, Wade, no need to be so melodramatic about it. It's Greagoir's job to ensure the safety of everyone in the school. He was just doing his routine check-up. You are the head doctor in this school, he has every right to question your methods. Communication between you two is imperative, I thought you would have realised this by now. "

"Oh shut up Herren. I'm well aware of that. He's a necessary evil, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy him sticking his darned nose in my business."

Leliana giggled. "What a character. Certainly more interesting than any doctor I've come across in Orlais."

Doctor Wade turned to face his two patients. "Now don't you two worry. I'm a certified genius. I'll have you spiff and span in no time!"

"Thank you Doctor." said Elissa.

The two medics began preparing their instruments.

"Say, Leliana, do you happen to know anything about Alistair, Cailan's brother?"

"Only what little you've told me. You have him in a chemistry class and he is an all around nice guy. I've only ever seen him in the hallway. He is cute, no?"

"Er.. I.. Uh – I mean, I suppose so.." she blushed. "I guess I was just curious. I got a friend request from him on this social networking site called "AppleBeeChat"."

"A friend request hmm?" she said teasingly, leaning towards Elissa. "Maybe he has a crush on you!" she giggled cutely.

"What? I - Oh please, I'm sure it's nothing like that. It's just that I like to _know_ about people before I friend them."

"Well, did you accept him then?"

"Yes, he seemed a nice enough guy. So I accepted. I've known him for so short a time though, so it does seem a little.. out of the blue. But whatever, what's done is done. It's probably just me being my paranoid self anyway."

Leliana simply smiled.

* * *

The door creaked open yet again. This time it was Wynne who walked through.

"Hello Wade, I was wondering if you had any tablets for easing headaches. One of my students is trying to write an essay but is struggling greatly due to "head pains". I told him I would get something to relieve the pain for him, so here I am."

"Hmm.." said Wade. "Even though it sounds like a made-up excuse to avoid doing work, there might be something I can do. I'll be with you in a second."

"Thank you, Wade." she responded, and made her way over to where Leliana and Elissa were sitting.

"Wynne!" Leliana shouted.

"Girls! My, what a surprise it is to see you both here. Second day at school and already both of you have winded up in first aid. You're not having _too_ much fun I hope!" she laughed.

"Yeah, I accidentally tripped and twisted my left ankle on a step."

"Oof! And why are you here, my dear?" Wynne said, looking towards Elissa.

"I took a bit of a tumble is all. As you can see my nose is a bit worse for ware."

"I can see that. Hmm..." Wynne pondered.

"What is it?" replied Leliana.

"You know what? I think I could fix up those injuries for you. Class is only a few minutes away, after all, and we wouldn't want you to be late."

"You mean.. with magic?" replied Elissa curiously. She was always fascinated by magic, but at the same time she was wary, as she had heard stories of the many dangers that magic held.

"Yes, if you are comfortable with it."

"Oh, yes please!" chirped Leliana cheerfully.

"If it means we can get to drama in time, then sure." said Elissa.

"Alright. Just hold still for a moment.". Wynne moved her hands towards Leliana's left ankle. She closed her eyes and appeared to be focusing very hard. A small wisp of sparkling white light flowed out from Wynne's hands and began spreading over Leliana's foot. The energy sunk into her skin and disappeared.

"Wow." said both girls simultaneously.

"That was amazing." said Elissa in awe. She had never actually seen healing magic being used before.

"It actually worked!" gasped Leliana. "I can feel it already!" she shot up in glee. "Thank you so much Wynne!" she said, hugging her teacher.

"Your welcome dear. It was no trouble. Now for you, Elissa. Hold still."

"_Here we go_.." she thought.

Wynne placed both of her hands over Elissa's face. Both women closed their eyes. She could feel a warmth spreading across her face, and soon she could sense a bright white energy shining beyond her eyelids. She felt the pain from her nose sore fading away at a rapid pace, and when the light finally disappeared and Wynne removed her hands, she opened her eyes.

She smiled. "Thank you. It feels... so much better."

Wynne smiled back "You look good as new."

Doctor Wade spoke up "I was watching that, Wynne.". He was standing behind Wynne along with Herren, his left eyebrow raised. "Impressive, I must say. We so rarely get to witness your powers at play. Keep that up and we'll be out of a job!"

"Don't worry Wade. I scarcely use my magic any more, but I felt it was my duty to help these girls out. I am their English teacher, after all."

"We'll let you off the hook this time." he laughed. "But I'd keep the spell casting to a minimum. Although you are a certified mage and were released from the circle tower, it wouldn't fair well for you if someone like Greagoir found out. You know how paranoid he gets about magic."

"Believe me, I'm aware of that, which is why I keep my magical talents to a minimum in this school. Thank you anyway though. Forewarned is forearmed."

"Indeed." smiled Wade.

Wynne turned around to face the girls. "Well, what are you waiting for? The bell is about to sound any second now. Get going!"

Leliana bounced around energetically. "Come on, let's get going!" she walked out the door.

Elissa turned to face Wynne "Thanks again." she smiled. And got up and walked away.

Leliana was waiting outside. "How amazing was that? I feel a thousand times better! Come on, let's skedaddle. I'll lead the way."

They were all cleaned up and ready to go. Elissa still felt stunned after having witnessed Wynne's magic. None of the books she had read could accurately describe the sensation. It was mesmerising.

Next stop: Drama. "_Oh boy. There should be a few interesting characters here._" Elissa thought.


End file.
